Obama's threats to Russia are empty: expert

President Obama warned Russia on Friday not to put troops in Ukraine, but he didn't say what he would do if the Russians invade anyway, Josh Rogin writes.
In an unscheduled appearance at the White House briefing room Friday afternoon, President Obama threatened Russia over putting troops into Ukraine.
“There will be costs for any military intervention in Ukraine,” he said with a serious face. Obama didn’t acknowledge that the scary-looking paramilitary forces who took over Crimea’s main airport Friday are probably Russian military-owned and operated. Continue.


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But most importantly, Obama failed to tell the Russians, or the American people, exactly what he could or would do if Russia has invaded Ukraine. The truth is, he doesn’t have any options. His threat is as empty as the Kiev mansion that Moscow-backed President Viktor Yanukovych fled before he popped up Friday in Russia, speaking Russian.
To be sure, America’s impotence in stopping Vladimir Putin’s aggression is not entirely Obama’s fault. Ukraine is Russia’s neighbor, and they have long historical, cultural and political ties that Washington can’t understand, much less overcome. And Moscow does have a point: The Yanukovych government was democratically elected and chased out of power by an angry mob, albeit one with legitimate grievances.
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The U.S. is not going to send troops into Ukraine. We could try economic sanctions against Russia, but those won’t bite much. The United Nations is a dead end. The European Union really has more skin in the game in Ukraine and has more leverage over the Ukrainians.
Obama has to be careful not to write checks that the U.S. can’t cash. We’ve seen what empty threats did in Syria, when Obama set a red line for Assad and then backed away from it when the strikes he proposed proved unpopular. One has to wonder if Putin, remembering that episode, is taking Obama’s Ukraine threat seriously.